Light in the Dark

This is a photo from my Instagram. I posted it on January 20th. I was being cheeky and not at the same time. There is a disturbance in the force. Even if you've never seen a single Star Wars movie, I have a feeling you know this quote...and it seems pretty applicable given our current climate.

A disturbance in the force means there's an imbalance; things are out of harmony. You don't have to look far to see this. Just look at our declining rainforests and the current endangered animals list. For being such conscious beings, we don't respect others very much -- whether this "other" is a tree or a human. WTF?

And then we ask such blatant questions like -- how are we going to solve this? What are we really in danger of losing? How will we fix our current state of poverty, homelessness, racism, hunger, etc? And what is it we're really aiming to solve? Do we even know?

Sometimes the "it" is so big we lump it into one word. For example, hunger. Like this word can possibly contain all the complications and needs of the people who fundamentally don't have enough to eat on a daily basis.

I'll never forget (and stop me if you've heard this story) one of my infamous discussions with my dad about life.

He asked me, "How come, if we can feed everyone, we don't?"

I replied, "Because we don't have a resource problem. We have a heart problem."

And therein lies our dilemma. How do we, especially those of us who live in the United States, open our hearts when our culture has taught us to independently rise? What is one to do when we're encouraged to be true to ourselves and climb the ladder -- even if it means stepping over someone on the way up?

Then, when you get to the top, you are genuinely confused why there aren't more of you up there. Do people just not want it bad enough? Are people not motivated? Are they just not as much of a go-getter as I am?

Heart Problem.

On January 20th, 2017 we swore in the 45th president of the United States of America. He is a president that has no doubt stirred the pot. He isn't the disturbance in the force. He's a byproduct of it.

On January 21st, 2017 more than 5 million people from 55 global cities and every state in the union gathered for one of the most peaceful demonstrations to date as an answer to this president. Or at least in hopes of starting a new conversation.

I keep thinking that this is a movie. That I can turn it off, sigh some relief and go to bed knowing it wasn't real. But it is real. And it certainly falls in line with this global ascension we just entered the ring with.

All the right characters are here:

The Hero: You (the protagonist)The Villain: The anti-you or everything that invokes anger in you (the antagonist)The Theme: Can we create harmony?The Climax: What will ultimately be tested on our way back to the middle?The Payoff: (We don't know yet...)

But I can't turn this off! It's here. So what now? We have a major antagonist. Which means we also have a protagonist. Hesitant but present.

Here's the thing. When I ask you toward the end of this article to step into the light, know that you can't do so by eradicating the dark. It's still dark. It just has light shining on it. Where there's a shadow we have light, and where we have light we have a shadow.

We need to redefine what it means to solve "this." Harmony is not all light and it is not all dark. It is both/and.

Since the election, I've found myself wondering if this all happened because we needed a grandiose call to adventure. Every hero has one. You've had many in this lifetime alone, some of which you've probably answered. This time it's different. I can't help but feel like this time it affects us all.

How will we know when we've moved toward harmony? I'm not sure yet, because it doesn't seem to be human nature to move this way even within the self. So this is where we begin: because in the self is the only place your radical awareness can shift the planet. If nothing else, you can resolve the parts of you that are not in harmony -- and won't that feel more whole? Imagine 7 billion people who feel whole.

- My Invocation to be the light -(Repeat to yourself out loud or write it in your journal)

That which I hate in you, I hate in me.That which I love in you, I love in me.I choose to love what I hate.I choose to be what I love.I choose to close the gap between "you" and "me" because the gap is in my mind.When you fall, I fall.When I fall, you fall.We forgive one another. Only through acceptance can we find the middle.I choose to practice this love with my words, my thoughts, my intentions, and my actions all the days of my life.And so it is.